Cotter pin



Feb. 3. 1925. 1,525,408

L. G. MILLER ET AL CUTTER PIN Fi 1ed April 18, 1921 lNVEilTORS -Z0uis aMzller IJy-fi- Q BY Edward Glory- Patented Feb. 3, 1925 i i 'r-En S 'T-A T E s FF l-GE LOUIS G. MiLLER AND EDWAR-ITQ-"LGNG, OF' W-ESJMONTBOBOUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

CUTTER PIN.

' 'Afipl'ietioxifiled April 18,1921 Serial No. 462,474.

To 'tiZZ who???) irma aom'em Be it "lni'own that We, Louis MILLER and EDWARD C. LONG, both citizens ofthe" United States, and residents of the "borough "of W'Vestinont, countyof Gambria, and State of Pennsylvania, haveinyented certain new and useful Improvements 'in Cotter Pins} and We do herebydeclarethe following to'be' alfull, clearjan d exact: description of the in vention, such as will eii'able'bthers skilled in the arttowhich ita'ppertains to make anduse the sai'ne.

Our inventiourelatesto a' cotter pin for securing'bolts orpins in place in mechanical -constructions of'all kinds and it may also be used for securing nuts or Washers so "that the ai orvibration will not loosen "them orallow them to be displaced.

; Our-inve'ntionconsists generally of a cot ter pm which "18 formed of half round or other cross section oi wire orbar'bentover I upon itself with "two 1 sides substantially in contactso that itwill fit in 'a round or other'sha'ped liole and the end of one orboth of'the legs may-"have a projection orl bent over "portionthereon,- while one-leg may be longer and initially project further outwardly from tlie bol't or pin, and -tlie'loop or bent end of said cotter pin is of redu'ced section so that it may-b'e easily distorted.

it "cotter pin of this type is 1 introduced into a hole in' sucha Way that the projection ofone leg restsagainst' the bolt, whereupon the "other longer*proi-eetingi end maybe struck-With ahainmer or other instrument and the other bentor loop'ed' end Will-then open into a=loop of Wider form by reason of the thinn'er construction thereoffthus seei'ir'cly lockingthepin in place Without the -I1CGSS1tfY of opening it-With a-screW-driver or chisel as haslieretoforebSElICUStOIllElIY with priortypesbf-cotter pins. This makes a SIIIIPlB COIIStTHCt-IOII enabling the pin to be inserted and locked complete in one operation; thus-obviating the possibility of a workman utting in a pin Without securing I have found by actual -inanufactui'e and' trial'that a cotter'pin made of half round metal 0f uniform cross section throughout and then doubled or'bent over withits fiat side-s adjacent 'o1"incontact*to form a-pin or substantially uniform 1 circular "external cross sectional outline cannot-be opened or enlarged at; its-bent end'by holding onezoi the limbs and striking the other'proj'ecti-ng limb With a hammeror otherwise, attemptmg to move it longitudinally,the reason 'being, "as I- be-lieve, thatthebending-increases 'the elastic limit of =the"material at and adjacent the bent-'p'ortion,=to such ane'xtent that the-material at and nearithe-bentpor- 'tion w'ill n ot openinthe form of a loop,

andnear the portions to -be-bent, that such a pin -can, by *hainmering'one of the free ends, be readily opened 'at' its bent portion to form a looppthatwillhold it securely in an opening, and my invention therefore re lates to a*cottenpin socoi'ist ruct'ed.

Having thus given a general description of our invention; we Will nOW in --order to make the matter'more clear; refer to "the annexed sheet of 'drau 'ings 'fo'i-ming part of this specification and in which -likevchai aoters refer to like parts.

Figure 1 is an end elevatioirof a bolt With a cotter pin in POSliJlOH IGBLClY to-be locked; Figure 2 is a View similarto Figure 1 w itli the cotter loc ked' iii-position Figure 8- is a side view- 01 a boltor pin Withflthe cotter pin in locked position; Figure 4 is a plan View of a rod or bar of rolled metal or 'Wire formed with a thinner intermediate portion, as illustrated, which-thin portion may 'eithei'- be cut out or :iorged or 'the bar ma be rolled in a i'o'llin mill to )roduce u 1 a n b this thin POItlOlI Ht intervals, so "that the cotter pins can be sheared therefrom with "the hea'vier portion 'of'thelegs at'the ends and With -thelthin'n'er portion intermediate; Figure 5 is a side GlQVZIUOHOTE the rod or #bai illu'strated in i i'gure 4; Figure 6 isan end elevation thereof; Figure 7 is ayiew of a slightly modified fori'n of cotter "pin, the

1 ends of each of the legs of which are bent as illustrated; and Figure 8 is an end elevation showing the same cotter pin when finally positioned, I f

Referring now to the characters of reference on tl1e drawirigs:1 represents the bolt or pin generally, having the opening 2 therein to receive the cotter pin 3. This cotter pin has a longerleg A, a shorter leg 5, on which latter is a projecting end portion 6. The other. looped end of the cotter pin is introduced into place as illustrated in Figure 1, whereupon the longer end is driven down with a hammer or other instrument, which opens the loop end 7, the material of which bends readily by reason of the fact that it is thinner than the other portions of the pin. As illustrated in Figure 4f, 8 is a plan view of the rod or bar from which the cotter pins are formed with the thinner portion 7 as shown. Figure 5 is a side elevation thereof and Figure 6 is an end elevation showing a semicircular 'form of the rod or wire.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, this cotter pin is the same as those illustrated in the other figures, with the exception that it is formed with a longer leg 9, which is provided with a bent over offset portion 10.

Although we have described and illustrated our invention in considerable detail, we do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific details thereof, as shown and described, but may use such modificationsin, substitutions for, or equivalents thereof, as are embraced within the scope of our invention, or as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. A cotter'pin having a looped end with legs of unequal length, one of which is provided with a projection at one end, the loop end being thinner than the other portions of said pin.

2. A cotter pin formed of a metal rod, the ends of which are bent over adjacent to each other, forming a looped end, one of the legs being provided with a projection near its end, the other leg being longer, the cotter pin being thinner at its looped bent portion.

3. A cotter pin composed of a metal bar bent in loop form at its intermediate portion which is of relatively reduced cross section, with two substantially straight leg portions of uniform external cross sectional outline adjacent each other in substantial parallelism, one of the straight leg portions being provided with an end projection and the other straight leg portion having its end extending outwardly beyond the end projection of the other leg.

at. A cotter pin formed of a bar bent at its intermediate portion with the end portions approximately parallel, the portion of the bar at and adjacent to the loop being tapered and thinnest at the bent loop.

5. A cotter pin formed of a rod of semicircular cross-secition bent on itself with its flat sides adjacent, one of the legs having a projection near one end, the other leg being longer, the portions near the bend being thinner than the other portions of said cotter pins.

6. A cotter pin formed from'a rod of metal bent over on itself approximately 180 degrees, one of the legs having a projection near its end, the other leg being longer, the

portion'at the bend being thinner and graduitlly merging into the other portions of the 7. A bar from which to: form a cotter pin, the end portions of said bar being of substantially uniform semi-circular cross section, and the intermediate portion being of reduced cross section.

8. As an article of manufacture, a cotter pin comprising two parallel limbs, joined together at one end, the opposite end of one limb having an enlarged head, and the other limb projecting beyond said head, said pin being of uniform external diameter from said head to and including said joint, the portions of the limbs at and immediately adjacent the joint, being of less cross; sectional area than the other portions thereof.

9. As an article of manufacture, a cotter pin comprising a bar bent on itself to provide two parallel limbs, one limb having an enlarged end and the other limb projecting beyond said end, the pin being of uniform external cross sectional outline from and including the joint to the enlarged head, the portions of the limbs at and immediately adjacent the joint, being of less cross sectional area than the other portions L thereof.

10. As an article of manufacture, a cotter at and near the bend being of less cross section than their other portions.

11. As an article of manufacture, a cotter pin comprising two parallel limbs j oiued together at one end to form the point or entering end of the pin, the opposite end of one limb provided with a stop shoulder adapted to hold the pin from movement in one direction when inserted in a hole, and the other limb extending beyond said shoulder, said shoulder projecting transversely of the pin away from the other limb, the portions of the limbs at and near the joint being of less cross section than their other portions.

12. As an article of manufacture, a cotter pin comprising two parallel limbs joined to be bent out of parallel with the portions together at one of their ends, means on one in the aperture whereby the pin is held of said limbs spaced from the joint to hold against movement in the opposite direction. 10 the pin against movement in one direction In witness whereof we hereunto afliX our 5 after insertion in an aperture, and the limbs signatures.

at the joint end being of less cross section LOUIS G. MILLER. than their other portions and thus adapted EDWARD C. LONG. 

